Motor Restrictions

[Bob Steele]

FIRST has been supported by the automotive industry from the very beginning. It may have slacked abit but they still support many teams. I believe that the "automotive" designation is due to the motors that have been contributed to teams over the years. They want to include those and they are primarily automotive motors... examples of motors that we have used include van door motors, window motors, etc. (Jon beat me to this ... see above for a better explanation)

It is good to see newer teams asking these questions. Those of us that have been around a long time see the last few years as really loosening up the motor restrictions a great deal, along with a number of other restrictions we faced in the past. Perhaps this trend will continue.

It is still not "use anything you want" and I would doubt if it will ever get there even given the battery/breaker/cost rules.

I believe it is still just a part of the effort to level the playing field for all teams.

One could argue against nearly any restriction in this way...but having some guidelines is not really that bad. We have limitations on pneumatics and the use of the control system... ... it is just part of the game and the challenge.